Not Applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of neuropsychology. More particularly, this invention relates to measurement and assessment of cognitive performance.
2. Description of Related Art
For years neurology professionals have studied the effects that changes in brain conditions have on a person""s cognitive abilities. Tests have been developed for measuring, e.g., simple and complex attentions/reaction, working memory, short-term memory and new learning, incidental memory, adaptive problem solving, continuous performance and spatial abilities.
Many cognitive test instruments are designed for single assessment situations or to answer specific diagnostic questions or to measure a specific cognitive skill, and often make use of the novelty of the test. These are rarely good for doing more than a few assessments because the subject may benefit from second and subsequent repetitions of the test making normative data (based on the single test administration) inappropriate.
In addition, many test instruments are specifically designed for subjects functioning at a specific level and do not work well with patients who are not functioning at that level. For example, typically a test that is useful for a high functioning group of subjects such as jet pilots may be less than ideal for a low functioning group such as stroke or Alzheimer""s patients.
Accordingly, there is a need for a universal neurocognitive testing device and method that can accommodate patients functioning within a wide spectrum of cognitive levels. There is also a need for a test instrument and method that can reliably detect the deviation in patient""s cognitive level over time.
It is an object of the invention to provide a neurocognitive testing device including a library of tasks for indexing patient""s cognitive levels.
It is another object of the invention to provide a neurocognitive testing device that may be used for subjects with various cognitive abilities.
It is still another object of the invention to provide computer-implemented neurocognitive testing device that allows a clinician to modify testing parameters without modifying program code.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide computer implemented neurocognitive tasks having variable task parameters.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a library of computer implemented neurocognitive tasks that correct for the subject""s misunderstanding of task instructions.